Display box



Dec. 15, 1942.

A! Dl DOMENI'CO DISPLAY BOX Filed slept. 1-7, 1958 2/ 1 INVENTOR MZRM Patented Dec. 15, 1942 UNHTE. STATEE E QATENT OFFICE.

msrney Box Anthony- Di Domenico, Fore'stHills, N. Y. Application September 17,1938, ser al No.230,349

. 1 Claim. (o1. zoo-44) Theinvention relates to a display box having a readily removable cover portion constituted of a single piece of transparent material, shaped to the desired contouration from a .blank of such transparent material, with the edge portions of the blank curved downwardly and secured together at their corner meeting edges by strips of material, either opaque, transparent, or translucent.

An object of the invention is to provide a display box for articles of general merchandise which makes possible the display of such merchandise While containedin the box, the contents being visible in substantially any position of the display box. A more particular object of the invention is to provide a cover portion for such display box which is fabricated of a single piece or sheet of transparent material which may be die-cut from larger sheets of such material, provided with metallic or other opaque, or transparent or translucent material, of the same or different composition from that of the body, marginal edging, the blank of sheet material being bent throughout its four lateral marginal portions to form a cover which can be applied to the base portion of the box as a unit and readily removed therefrom to provide access to the merchandise displayed therein.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a display box having a cover portion which is .1

characterized throughout its peripheral edges by a reinforced metallic strip and by a plurality of strips of material, of metal or similar rigid material acting as the means of joining together the meeting edges of the side elements of the cover. A still further object of the invention is to provide the four corners of the display box, and more particularly of the cover portion thereof, with reinforcements in the form of small bent metallic tabs enfolding the corner portions of the cover member.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a particular embodiment of my invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank of transparent material from which the cover portion of my novel display box is adapted to be formed; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the cover portion formed of the blank of Fig.1, with the lower edge portions thereof joined ,together, at the corners, by metallic tabs; Fig. 3 is a side view of the cover portion of the display box shown in Fig. 2; Fig, 4 is in enlarged detail showing the application of a strip of opaque material, such as .metal, to the corners of the cover for joining. the contiguous meeting edges of the sides of the, cover; Fig. 5,is asection on the line 5 -5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a display box constructed in accordance withmy invention. I

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in

'which similar reference characters identify similar parts in theseveral views, I0 designates a blank of transparent sheet material such as cellulose acetate, of sufficient thickness to be selfsustaining when shaped to any particular configuration. Such blank of sheet material is diecut, the blank being formed with substantially V'-shaped cut-outs I I, having arcuate sides, at the four corners thereof, the depth of the cut-outs from the edges of the blank being substantially that equivalent to the depth of the cover portion of the displaybox to be fabricated. At the same time that the blank is die-cut from a large strip of the transparent material, provision may be made for the cutting of slits l2 at a point slightly removed from the apices of the V-shaped cutouts, which slits are disposed at right angles to the center lines of such cut-outs, all for the purpose hereinafter to be described.

Throughout the peripheral edges of the blank El as thus formed, with the exception of the edges forming the cut-outs II, there are applied strips l3 of an opaque material, for instance metal foil, which strips are secured to the peripheral edges of the blank ID, as clearly indicated in Fig. 6, by turning over the edge l5 of the blank l0 and having such turned-over edge encompassed by the looped edge M of the strip I3, the free edge of the loop I4 entering into the space between the blank I0 and the turned-in edge I5 thereof. As the strip of opaque material I3 is of rigid material, such reinforcement, thus applied, by slight pressure upon the strip, will be permanently secured to the peripheral edges of the blank ID.

The blank of transparent material is then formed intov the cover member illustrated in Fig. 2 by having the edge portions thereof curved downwardly until the arcuate edges'of each of the cut-outs H are brought into substantially juxtaposed position, i. e. with such edges substantially meeting. Upon the formation of the cover member in this manner, there is applied to each of the corners thereof a right-angled tab l 6 enfolding by its side elements the adjacent corner portions of the cover material, the tabs being secured, as shown in Fig. 5, between the outer surface of the acetate material and the inner surface of the turned-in end H of the reinforcing strip I3. Preferably, though not necessarily, the tabs l6 may be further secured in position by drops of solder uniting them to the upper edge of the loops M of the metallic reinforcing strips [3.

In this manner, a substantially completed cover portion for a display box has been produced, which however, is not of pleasing appearance nor of sufficiently rigid construction by reason of the visibility of the joints between the side elements of the cover portion produced by the meeting edges thereof, and of the inherent weakness of such joints. In accordance with my invention, I provide not only a covering for such meeting edges but also a means of reinforcing the same, by means of strips of metal or similar rigid material, or of any plastic material, or even fabric, such strips I! being laid over the meeting edges of the sides of the cover so as to extend from the bottom of the cover in an arc upwardly over the surface thereof and straddling such meeting edges to the slits l2. The edges of the reinforcing strips H are passed through such slits l2 and such end portions I8 bent inwardly so as to secure the strips in position at such end thereof. The other end IQ of the reinforcing strips may be secured to the outer edges of the horizontal reinforcing strips l3, for instance by solder. In the case of a plastic material constituting the strips [1, such material may be applied in its desired position and cemented in any suitable manner. Thus, the strips I! may be formed of cellulosic material similar tothe material of the body of the cover, such strips being secured in place by a suitable adhesive, or by welding the materials together, as by heat.

It will be noted that the reinforcing strips 1! are bent along their longitudinal center line so as to overlap the edges of two adjacent sides of the cover. Y

The cover portion, thus constituted, may be utilized in combination with a base 20 having a peripheral flange 2| and a raised central portion 22 about which the cover portion may be poing, for instance, for the display of articles of merchandise such as jewelry, cutlery, etc., which may be positioned upon a counter, tray or other supporting surface, to which the transparent cover hereinabove described may be applied.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art, that while I have described the material of which my novel display box, and more particularly the novel construction of cover-portion thereof, may be made, as constituted of a transparent material such as cellulose acetate, it may be made of any cellulosic material, for instance, cellulose nitrate,

and compositions containing the same, as Celluloid. Also, it will be obvious that the material, instead of being transparent, may be translucent.

The corner reinforcing strips, while in the preferred embodiment described as attached or secured to the peripheral metal strips by soldering, may be otherwise secured in place, for instance by some solvent. Such corner strips, as hereinabove indicated, may also be formed of cellulosic material, either of the same or different composition from that of the body of the cover, and such strips secured'to the cellulosic material constituting the cover byheat welding, or by heating and presure, or by use of acellulose solvent. I

Thus, while I have described a specific embodiment of my invention, various changes therein, bothin the configuration of the several elements and of the composition of the material of which such elements are constituted, may be made without departing from my invention.

I claim:

A cover fora display box of the character described, adapted for application to a base having a raised central portion completely enclosed by said'cover when positioned upon the base, and a flange extending fromthe peripheral edges thereof against which flange the lower peripheral edge of the cover abuts, comprising a body of thin transparent sheet material having each of the edge portions thereof curved downwardly from the horizontal planev of the body and spaced from each other at the corners of the cover, strips of reinforcing rigid material secured to the peripheral edges of said curved portions of said body and strips'of reinforcing material extending arcuately from the bottom corners of the cover along and covering the adjacent edges of the side curved portions of said body to a point in the plane of the body and secured at that point, whereby, upon the application of said cover to said base, a completely enclosed, substantially transparent display box is formed.

ANTHONY DI DOMENICO. 

